A Character I Admire Essay, Research Paper

A Character I admire

From Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

A description means saying in words what something or somebody is like and admire means regarding somebody with respect, pleasure and satisfaction. The character I admire in Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry by Mildred D. Taylor is Little Man aka Clayton Chester Logan. I admire Little Man because he is brave and stubborn, is loyal to his family, likes to be very clean, and understands a lot about racism.

Little Man is the youngest child in the Logan family, yet he is very brave, as well as stubborn. The book incident, which is about him asking for another reader from the teacher when he was given a dirty one illustrates how brave he, is very well. He might not have known how Miss. Crocker, the teacher, would react then, but he certainly knew what would happen when he threw his book on the ground and stomped on it because he saw a table in the book that told him the whites gave the book to them because they didn?t want it. When Miss. Crocker, saw what was happening and threatened him with the switch he showed how brave and stubborn he was by refusing to change his opinion.

Little Man is also very loyal to his family. Near the end of the book, when TJ, a boy who betrayed his family and friends, got beaten up by some white boys he hung out with for a while, he went over to the Logan?s and asked the Stacey, Little Man?s oldest brother, and Cassie, Little Man?s oldest sister, for help as he was badly injured, and couldn?t make it home by himself. Stacey and Cassie agreed to take TJ home, but tried to persuade Little Man to stay, however Little Man insisted on following Stacey and Cassie, even though he knew it was wrong. This illustrated when he said, ?I don?t want Papa to die!? when his father?s leg got busted when he came home from Vicksburg, after shopping there.

Another reason why I admire Little Man is how clean he is. This is shown at the start of the book when he was just starting school. While walking on the dusty road to school, Little Man carefully, watched his step to avoid getting his clothes dirty. This personality is shown again when he asked the teacher, Miss. Crocker, for a clean reader, when he was given a dirty one, as highlighted by his words, ?I?I said may I have another book please, ma?am. This one?s dirty.?

Even though Little Man is small, he understands a lot about racism as shown when he said to Big Ma, ?They?ve done it again, Big Ma! Just look at my clothes!? after another morning when a white school?s school bus rushed past him, splashing mud all over him. When Big Ma told him to get out of the clothes, he said, ?But, Big Ma, it ain?t fair! It just ain?t fair.? This is racism because the whites got school buses from the county, but blacks didn?t, and because the whites didn?t stop when they saw the blacks, but instead sped up. Also he refused to accept the reader Miss. Crocker gave him when he saw a table inside it showing the whites gave them the readers only because they didn?t want it.

The reason why I admire Little Man is because of all the reasons stated above. I would like to be as courageous as him with just a hint of stubbornness so I won?t give up on things so easily. I would also like to be loyal to my family. Little Man?s personality of being so clean might be a bit too much for me to cope, but keeping my desk clean would definitely be a big help in staying organised. Also racism still goes on in the 21st century, even though most people wish it would just go away, I like how Little Man can see into this issue and especially how honest he is on this opinion.

By Raymond Chan